Booth Booth Booth
by SimOph52
Summary: Temperance Brennan's boyfriend finds some things in her apartment that make him uneasy.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not sure whether this is something that I will be continuing. Let me know what you guys think!!**

**R&R please.**

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Tony had been dating Doctor Temperance Brennan for a little over a month now. They were spending a lot of time with each other and he couldn't have been happier in the relationship. He had met her partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth a week prior and despite his best efforts to make a good impression on the Agent, it seemed no matter what he tried, he was unable to get on his good side.

Temperance reassured him that that was just the way Booth was and that he should ignore the man. As long as he didn't have a criminal record and treated her well, he would learn to like Tony, maybe even one day befriend him.

It was a Saturday afternoon and there was little to do in the city. Temperance was sitting at her kitchen table, lap top and files spread out over the glass. Tony occupied himself with a newspaper and while they both sipped on hot coffee and relaxing when Tony looked up at her.

"Temperance?" he called softly across the table.

"Hmm?" she said, not looking at him; her fingers pounding across the keyboard in a loud monotonous rhythm.

"Do you think that we should move in together?" he asked sincerely.

Temperance's head jerked up and stared at the man across from her, "No. Not at all. Why would you suggest such a thing?" she asked, an appraising and accusatory expression on her face.

Tony tried to comfort her with a smile, "I was just thinking that we spend practically every moment together, it might be more practical to move in." he said.

Temperance raised an eyebrow, "We do not spend every moment together, Tony. We spend every night together, and we split the time equally between your apartment and mine." She said.

Tony nodded and went back to reading his paper. He could no longer concentrate, so he put down the paper on the table and stared into the vastness of her apartment while the clack clack clack of her keyboard drummed in the background, "You should think about getting a new TV." He said casually, "That one you have there is somewhat out of date.

She looked up at the television and smiled, "It's actually new. Booth got it for me for my birthday. It suits its purpose. I rarely ever use the thing anyway." She said, returning to the task at hand.

A though suddenly occurred to Tony and he got up and walked over to her bookshelf and studied the figurines on it. He turned to Temperance and pointed at the figures, "Temperance, these figurines are quite charming. Where did you get them?"

Temperance looked up at the figures he was pointing at and smiled, returning to her work, "Booth gave them to me. The pig is because I want a pet pig named Jasper and the Brainy smurf, because of a story from my childhood." She laughed under her breath.

Tony nodded, "Huh…" he said pensively, and made his way to her bathroom. There it was. The thing that had been haunting him since he first was invited into her apartment. He leveled his playing field with it and stared it down, challenging it to prove him wrong. It just sat there… mocking him with it's presence.

He turned on his heel and made his way back to the living room and stood in front of her, "Temperance, whose toothbrush is that in the bathroom?" he asked curiously.

She was hitting one button on the keyboard repeatedly as though she were reviewing a section of material, she only glanced at him sideways before answering, "It's Booth's" she answered shortly.

"Why does he have a toothbrush at your home?" he asked.

"He has stayed here over night before. Sometimes it's because a suspect is after one of us or because he drank too much." She said, barely paying attention to her own words.

"And he sleeps in the guest bedroom?" he asked.

"Of course." She replied simply. She raised her coffee cup to her lips and took a sip. She wasn't even paying any attention to him, which made him suddenly happy that this relationship wasn't as emotionally satisfying as he had previously hoped it was. He shook his head and made his way down into her bedroom and opened the second drawer in her dresser. There is the last piece of solid evidence he needed. An extra large black t-shirt with the bold letters FBI plastered on the front. He had also seen at one time a shirt with army written on it, but that could have been from anyone, even though he suspected otherwise. This shirt was undeniable proof for him. He grabbed it and walked back down to the living room.

"Whose shirt is this Temperance?" he asked, turning to her, holding the shirt out in front of her.

She finally stopped her work and looked up at him, "What are you doing?" she asked, looking at him wide eyed and curiously.

"It's Booth's isn't it?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Why do you care so much about Booth?" she asked grabbing the t-shirt away from him, "And for your information, I had a boyfriend who was in the FBI named Timothy Sullivan. Not that that is any of your business."

"Oh." Tony said, crossing his arms, "So that shirt belongs to him?" he asked. Temperance shifted in her seat and looked at her computer screen. Tony laughed slightly and felt badly for her, "Temperance, just tell me whose shirt it is." He smiled.

She looked up at him, "It's Booth's." she said softly.

"That is what I thought." He said, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead, "You are a wonderful woman, Temperance. But I know when to step down to let the better man through." He said, taking the last sip of his coffee and grabbing his newspaper and jacket.

"Wha… you're leaving?" she asked, suddenly standing up.

"You don't want me, Temperance." He said, backing toward the door, "You're in love with your Agent Booth." He said simply, "And it's quite obvious that he is in love with you." He shrugged, "Don't waste your time with me when you already have him to come home to."

Temperance took a step toward him, "What if you're wrong?" she asked, suddenly looking scared.

He smiled, and opened the front door of her apartment, "I'm not wrong, Temperance. It's quite easy to spot a man in love." Temperance watched Tony backing out of her apartment, unmoving, "Take care of yourself, Temperance." He said before closing the door and leaving her standing in the middle of her living room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wasn't going to update until tomorrow... but then I got bored. Oh wellsies. **

**R&R please!!**

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Temperance stood in the middle of her living room. She was dumbfounded by what had just occurred. It suddenly struck her that she wasn't all that upset about it, but she couldn't understand why.

She slowly turned around and sat down in front of her computer. She shook her head and pulled her chair closer to the table and got back to work. Reviewing the last sentence that she wrote, she was astonished by what she saw in front of her.

_Kathy walked down the hall to her apartment, noticing that there was a man standing in front of her door. A small smile crept onto her face as she reached into her jacket pocket for her keys._

_She slowly walked up to him, noticing that her hips were swaying more. She knew that she was trying to be seductive and she found that she didn't mind putting on a show for him, "What are you doing here, Booth?" she asked. _

_He smiled at her and pushed himself off of the door frame. His suit jacket and tie were draped over his arm and the top buttons of his white pressed shirt were undone. She gasped at the small glimpse of his chest that she could see. Thankfully he hadn't noticed her small fixation on his chest. _

_"I came by to see how you were doing." Booth said, grinning at her, the way only he could, "I haven't seen you around in a couple days, I was worried."_

_Kathy nodded and looked down at her hands, blushing slightly._

Brennan's eyes widened as she realized the entire scene that she had written while Tony was trampling all over her house had Booth's name in place of Andy. She immediately hit the "**Find**" function and typed: **Replace: Booth With:** **Andy**; and hit replace all.

To her surprise, a pop up appeared showing the results stating, "**Word has completed its search and has found 67 replacements**". Brennan gasped and moved away from her computer as though it were attacking her. How long had this been going on? She immediately opened the file from one of her previous books and repeated the process coming up with an even high number of replaced names.

Brennan was mortified. She had actually sent her chapters to the publishers with the wrong names. She had always been so careful when proof reading her books. They must have caught the error and changed them before publication.

Her hands were over her mouth and she could barely breathe. This was all too much for her. She needed to get out of the apartment and think about things. It was bad enough that Tony had left her because of his accusations about her feelings about Booth, but now her computer was doing the same thing. '_Computers aren't allowed to mock because they are inanimate objects!' _she thought to herself as she threw on her coat and grabbed her keys.

She was shaking by the time she made it downstairs into her lobby. The only thing on her mind was getting far away from anyone and anything that could make her accountable for her thoughts. She stepped outside the door and found the one thing that she really didn't need right now.

"Hey Bones!" he yelled, running up the steps to meet her.

Brennan let out a loud breath and dropped her head onto her chest, "What?" she said a little more forcefully than she intended.

"Is everything okay with you and Tony?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him surprised, "What?"

"I just ran into him," he said pointing down the street, "He said something like, 'you should go see your girl'."

Temperance grinded her teeth and shrugged his hand off of her, "I'm fine." She said assertively.

"What happened, Bones? Did he hurt you?" he said examining her body.

"No." she said flatly, "We broke up, Booth. Big deal. I'm fine."

"You don't seem to be fine." He said looking into her eyes.

She sighed, "My anger has nothing to do with Tony. In fact, I really don't care that we broke up. I didn't like him all that much anyway."

"Oh." Booth said, standing up straight, "So, what is the matter then?"

She shook her head and looked away from him, "It's something I have to deal with on my own Booth. There is no possible way that you can help me on this one, but thank you for… being concerned about my well-being."

"I'm always concerned about your well-being." He said softly.

She smiled at him, "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked.

Booth raised his hand. He was holding a strap. She followed the strap to find on the other end of it a small dog. A baby golden retriever.

"Booth!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide. She was immediately relaxed when she saw the feisty pup wagging his tail at her. She sat down on the steps and scooped the puppy into her arms, "When did you get a dog?" she asked playing with the puppy on her lap.

"Parker wanted one for his birthday." He said taking a seat next to her.

The pup started to lick her face and Booth laughed at the sight. It was an endearing sight. Brennan looked up at him, "Parker's birthday isn't for another week." She said petting the little guy.

"I know. He doesn't know about him yet." He said patting the dog on the head

"This is great!" she exclaimed, "I didn't know what to get him, so now I can get Parker the accessories."

"Bones, you really don't have to get him anything." Booth said looking at her.

Brennan looked at him, "Of course I do, Booth. He's your son." She said, thinking that that was reason enough.

Booth smiled, "That doesn't mean you need to buy him anything."

"You're my best friend, Booth. He is my best friend's son. I'm buying him a birthday present and the only thing that is going to stop me is my death. And only if I don't get to the store before that."

Booth laughed and bumped her shoulder, "It's a good thing I'm always saving your life then I guess."

Brennan punched him in the shoulder and then returned her attention back to the puppy, "Does he have a name yet?" she asked.

"His name is Parker." Booth chuckled.

Brennan looked up at him, an eyebrow cocked, "I meant the puppy."

"I'm going to let Parker name him. So right now, his name is no name."

Brennan laughed and grabbed the puppy's paw, "Hi no name, my name is Bones." She said, then realizing her mistake, she coughed, "Or Doctor Temperance Brennan." She said in a serious voice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the next chapter! I finally have a direction that I want to take this story in!! WOOHOO**

**Hope you all like this chapter as much as I do.**

**R&R please!**

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After she reluctantly said goodbye to Booth and the puppy, she made her way down the street. She wasn't quite sure where she was going, but she knew that it was as far away as possible.

She made her way to her car and jumped in. Turning the ignition she sat and let the car warm up. Then she noticed the empty coffee cup in the cup holder. It too, was Booth's. She grabbed the cup and forcefully pushed her door open, disposing of it in a nearby trash can.

She couldn't believe it. Not only had he been marking his territory all over her life, but he was also leaving his trash in her car. It was infuriating. She got back into her car and slammed the door shut behind her. Gripping onto the steering wheel tightly, she let out a half scream half moan but it didn't make her feel any better.

She threw the car into reverse and backed out of her spot. Once on the road she drove down the streets of D.C. passing the Jeffersonian and the FBI building. She sneered at the front door as she drove past, knowing that that building was full of Booth. All of the Agents in the building reminded her of him and she knew that she acted as though there was no better investigator. Granted, he was the best and she knew it. But the fact that she put him on a pedestal unnerved her right now because it seemed that his presence was overwhelming in her life.

She pulled onto the freeway and hit the gas pedal. Every time she turned around there was something there that reminded her of him, looked like him or actually was him. All she wanted to do was to get out of town and somewhere that had absolutely nothing to do with Booth.

It wasn't that it was his fault. It seemed as though everyone's constant interference in their relationship was getting to her. All of Angela's constant griping about how they would be perfect together, the looks that everyone would give them when they were arguing, all of the people who always thought that they were a couple, including the officers who secured the crime scenes. Today was her breaking point and she now realized that this craziness had to stop.

Temperance looked in her rearview mirror and groaned at the flashing lights behind her. She pulled over to the side of the road and the cop car stopped right behind her. She leaned into the passenger seat and took out her registration and insurance cards and fished through her purse for her license.

The police officer knocked on her window and she rolled it down, "Yes officer?"

"Ma'am, do you know why I pulled you over?" the officer asked. He was quite an attractive man, Temperance thought to herself. She smiled at him and leaned further toward the window.

"Yes. I believe that I was speeding." She said, attempting to subtly flirt with the officer.

"That is correct Ma'am. You were going eighty miles per hour in a sixty-five." He said, not taking the bait.

She handed him all of her information and smiled, "I'm so sorry, but I'm just on my way to a crime scene." She lied.

The police officer looked up at her incredulously, "Crime scene?"

"Yes, My name is Doctor Temperance Brennan. I'm a forensic anthropologist with the Jeffersonian institute."

The officer squinted at her, "And what does that have to do with a crime scene?"

Brennan sighed, "I am contracted out to the FBI to help solve crimes." She said.

The officer gave her an appraising look, "Wait, aren't you that novelist?" he said, a small smirk coming to his face.

Brennan cleared her throat, "Yes, I write fictional novels in my free time."

"My friend works for the FBI, and he mentioned something about you the last time I talked to him." He chuckled.

"A friend?" Brennan asked, suddenly feeling like this was going somewhere she didn't like.

"Yeah, and old army buddy of mine. Say, I bet you know him." The officer smiled, handing her back her information.

"Probably," she said putting all of her information away, "What is his name?"

"Seeley." The cop said, "Seeley Booth."

Temperance closed her eyes and let out a breath. She looked back at the cop and smiled, "He's actually my partner."

The officer pulled back slightly, "I thought you said you were a scientist."

"I am," she said shifting in her seat, "But I work in the field with him as well. It's sort of a special arrangement."

"Huh," the cop said, "Well, when you see Seeley, tell him Rick DeMarco says hi."

"I will do that, officer." She said, glad that it looked like she wasn't getting a ticket.

"It was nice meeting you Doctor Brennan. Slow down, though. It's the end of the month and we're all trying to reach our ticket quota." He laughed.

"Thank you so much, officer DeMarco. It was a pleasure meeting you." Brennan said rolling up her window and waving to the officer.

Temperance sat for a moment before pulling back onto the road. Officer DeMarco's car drove past, honking the horn at her to say goodbye. She was out of DC and into Virginia, and still reminders of Seeley Booth were popping up everywhere. It was like no matter what she did, she couldn't get away from him. No matter how hard she tried, he was officially engrained into her life and there was nothing that she could do about it.

With a huff, she merged back onto the road and kept driving; making sure to do the speed limit the entire time. The last thing that she needed was to meet any more of Seeley's army buddies.


	4. Chapter 4

**New Chapter up! It might seem a little OOC toward the end, but I thought it was appropriate.**

**Let me know what you all think! Review please!**

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After an hour and a half of driving outside of DC, Temperance ended up in a quaint Virginia town. It was curious to an anthropologist why anyone would want to live in a town like this. Every building, house and street looked like it came out of the pages of a home and garden magazine circa 1950.

The neighborhood houses were cookie cutter and the lawns were all perfectly mowed and vibrant green in color. There were couples walking up and down the street hand in hand and it seemed as though everyone in the town was happy.

There were no homeless street urchins, no pan-handlers not even the occasional disaffected youth hanging out on the street corner reciting poetry about his or her awful life. The whole place irked her. It was as though these people were clueless as to the way of the world.

She parked her car on the side of the road and fed a meter that was already partially paid for 56 minutes. Curious as to the way of the town, she decided to take a walk around. There were thrift and antique stores that lined the main street as well as the occasional mom and pop diners.

She sighed in relief when she saw a small whole-in-the-wall renegade book store at the end of the street. She knew this town couldn't be as perfect as it had appeared initially. She walked into the store and made her way through the stacks and shelves.

All of the books in the store were rare finds. Most of them had been out of print for some time as well as off the beaten track subject areas. Although none of them appealed to her enough to buy, she found that she enjoyed browsing the selection regardless. It wasn't as though she had anything pressing to take care of that day.

As she rounded the corner, she knocked into someone. She muttered and apology and kept on perusing the shelves.

"Hey," a young girl said from behind her, "You're Temperance Brennan, aren't you?" she asked excitedly.

Brennan sighed and turned to face the girl, "Yes. Yes I am." She was never one for fans. When she first started writing she had no intention of publishing her work. It was merely a past time activity that she had gotten decent at over the years. It wasn't until she had compounded her manuscript and let Angela read it that she was convinced that she should have it published.

When she had sent it out, she just assumed that it would go on the back shelves at some bookstores and that would be the end of it. With all of the publicity of the trials that she and Booth had been a part of, not to mention the times that one suspect or another would made an attempt on her life made the sales skyrocket to an extent that she, frankly found appalling; which was yet another reason she would never listen to Angela's advice any longer.

"Oh my God." The girl squealed, "I just love your books. I mean, we don't sell them here, but I read them all the time. When is your new one coming out?" she asked impatiently; holding a small stack of vintage books tightly to her chest.

"It's not going to be ready for another couple of months." Temperance replied, using the smile that her publishers made her practice for book signings.

The girl giggled, "I've seen reports about you on the news. You're life must be so thrilling. You know, catching the bad guys and putting them in lock up and stuff."

Brennan shook her head, "Oh no, I don't actually arrest anyone, my partner does that."

The girl squealed again, "Oh my God. Your partner, is he really like Andy Lister? Does he speak all of those languages and are you…"

Brennan shook her head vigorously, "My characters aren't based on real life, and frankly my sex life isn't your business." She said, slightly offended.

The girl giggled, "Yeah, your right. You guys should get married though. He's obviously in love with you."

Brennan looked at the girl incredulously, "I just said that my characters aren't based on real life."

The girl giggled again, "Uh-huh. I'm sure."

Brennan scoffed, "I'm serious."

The girl quirked her eyebrow and started to turn, but then turned back, "The first rule of writing fiction is that you write what you know. So the way I see it, either, you are involved with him, or you want to be." The girl shrugged and walked away.

Brennan stood in the middle of the bookstore dumbstruck, once again. She couldn't understand why this kept happening to her. The one thing that she wanted to do today was get away from anyone who could talk to her about Booth and all she kept coming up with was people who wanted to talk about Booth.

She was in the middle of nowhere West Virginia and people who didn't know her were still talking to her about Booth. Brennan stomped out of the store and made her way to the closest diner. She decided that all she wanted to do was get a cup of coffee and a salad and then drive back home. If she was going to have anyone else talking to her about her life, it will be her computer. She figured if her computer mocked her, she could just toss it across the room, unlike people.

She pushed the door in as the bells above the door rang. She stopped suddenly noticing a sign that said, 'please wait to be seated'. She looked at the sign questioningly and looked around at the empty diner. In DC, no one waited to be seated because you would just sit. She crossed her arms and waited for someone to help her.

Finally after what seemed like forever a waitress came over, "Just one?" she asked.

Brennan turned to look on either side of her, "Yes." She said sarcastically, "Just one."

The waitress leaned over to a shelf and grabbed a menu, "Would you like a booth?" she asked.

That was it. The final straw, "I DO NOT WANT BOOTH!" she yelled. The waitress jumped back away from her, dropping the menu on the ground. Temperance stepped toward the waitress, "Why does everyone think that I want Booth? He's my partner and my best friend. Sure, he's a very, very attractive man and I spend almost all of my time with him, but if I wanted him, I would know it by now." She said, grabbing the waitress by her upper arms, "Right? Right?" she asked desperately.

The waitress nodded her head quickly, hoping the crazy lady would let her go if she agreed.

Temperance continued her rant, "So, why? Why would you ask me if I want Booth? You don't even know him. He's never been to this town before to my knowledge. Unless he's a town hero or something, why would you ask me if I want him?" she said, tears coming to her eyes in desperation.

The waitress was breathing heavily, her eyes darting around the restaurant, "Ma'am, I asked you if you wanted _a _booth." She said pointing to a booth seat near the window, "Not Booth, a man."

"Oh," Temperance said letting go of the waitress and straightening out her uniform, "Sorry… about that." She said taking a step back, "I think I'll go now."

The waitress nodded and Temperance realized only now that the entire wait staff was peering out from behind the kitchen looking terrified. She slowly backed out the door and quickly made her way down the street back to her car. When she got there, she quickly ducked inside her vehicle and took a minute to recoup from her rant.

She was mortified. Clearly, today was not a day for rational thinking and it was obvious to her that she was no longer compartmentalizing as well as she used to.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is the last chapter! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I have a few stories in the making and hope to have them up soon. If you haven't yet, check out my other stuff and let me know what you think! Once I am done with Pheremones, I will be temporarily retiring from straight up fluff. I need to get back to the action oriented writing before I loose my cynical dark side. haha**

**Thanks for all of your reviews again! You all are super awesome! Thanks!**

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Back on the road and headed toward DC, Temperance was having difficulty focusing. She didn't understand what it was about her life. Before she met Booth, she had never had this kind of problem.

He was like a fungus. Hardly noticeable at first, but once it starts growing on you, it's damned hard to get rid of. She was suddenly struck by the thought that maybe she didn't mind it though. Booth was her best friend. Angela had always been there for her, but was constantly trying to pressure her into things. With Booth, he always let her do things her way, and if he did try to pressure her, he somehow managed to make it her decision.

She shook her head at the thought. She had never in her life shared that kind of bond with anyone. The closest she could think of was when she and Russ were younger. Russ always looked out for her and made sure she was okay. Even when they were no longer speaking to each other, he would call to check up.

Booth was almost like her brother, but different in so many ways. In truth, she admired Booth for his abilities and expertise as a law enforcement agent. He was always doing what was right specifically in terms of looking out for her. She knew that she didn't need anyone looking after her, but after a lifetime of not having it, it was comforting to know that he would always be curious as to where she was and how she was doing regardless of whether she let him know it or not.

As if on cue, her cell phone rang. Digging it out of her purse she hit the send button, "Brennan." She said into the receiver.

"Bones. Hey, where are you?" he asked from the other end.

She smiled, "I'm on my way back from a drive. Why?"

"I'm at your door with a puppy and some Thai food. Are you close?"

Brennan laughed thinking about the cute puppy, "Yeah, I should be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Oh," he sighed, "Okay, we'll just wait for you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Booth. Use the key I gave you. You know where the plates and everything are, by the time the food is out, I'll be back. You should set out some water for no name as well." She laughed.

"Okay, I'll see you soon then?"

Brennan smiled, "Yeah." Brennan hung up the phone and sped up slightly; intent on getting back to her apartment as quickly as possible.

Twenty minutes later, she walked through her front door and found dinner laid out on the table and a small puppy jumping at her ankles the moment the door opened. Smiling, Temperance scooped up the puppy in her arms and let him lick her face as a welcome home. She laughed and then saw Booth coming down the hallway from her bathroom.

"Hey." He said taking the puppy out of her hands and closing the door for her.

"Hey." She smiled and took off her coat and bag.

Booth shooed the puppy into the kitchen where there was food and water for him and turned back to Temperance and gestured toward the food. They both moved toward the table and sat down and started eating, "So, where did you go for a drive?" he asked.

Brennan shrugged, "I didn't have a planned destination, but I ended up in this small town that was actually quite eerily perfect." She said, biting down on some pad Thai.

Booth nodded, "Are you okay?" he asked, avoiding eye contact with her.

Brennan smiled, "I'm fine. I just needed to get out of the city today. I had some things on my mind."

Booth nodded again, "Okay. Well, you know if…" he started, but was cut off by Brennan.

"I know…" she said, "Oh, and by the way, Officer Rick DeMarco says hello."

Booth looked at her suddenly, "Rick DeMarco? Where did you run into him?" he asked.

"He pulled me over on the freeway. Oh, and if he asks the next time you talk to him, we met at a crime scene today."

Booth leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, "You were speeding." He said flatly. Brennan guiltily nodded, "And then you wonder why I won't let you drive the company car."

Brennan stopped eating and eyed him up, "I wouldn't have been speeding if I wasn't upset. Besides, I've seen you speed down the road before, so stop being hypocritical."

"I only speed when official business demands it, and I use my sirens." He said defensively.

Brennan was becoming angry, "Well, I didn't get a ticket so I must have not been going all that fast!" she retorted.

"You didn't get a ticket because you pulled the crime scene card and because the officer knows me personally!" he exclaimed.

"Well if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been speeding in the first place!" she said standing abruptly and throwing her napkin on the table. She moved into the kitchen and picked up the puppy, hoping that he could make her feel better.

Booth stood and followed her into the kitchen, "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, still angered.

"Nothing. Never mind. I feel better now." She said, paying attention to only the puppy in her arms.

Booth reached over and grabbed the puppy from her, "Tell me what I did. If I'm the one who upset you, I have the right to know so that I can fix it. I can't fix problems when I don't know what is broken." He said, the puppy's calming powers working on him.

Brennan sighed, "You didn't do anything intentionally. Nothing is broken. I just, I had to sort some things out in my head and it mainly had to do with you. But it isn't your problem and there is nothing that you can fix. It just… it is what it is and I have to deal with it. But don't worry about it, in a weeks time, I will be fine." She said reassuringly.

Booth shook his head and put the puppy down on the floor, "Why do you always do that?" he asked.

She was confused, "What?"

"Friends take care of each other, Temperance. Don't push me away. Tell me what the issue is whether I can help or not it has something to do with me. I think I deserve to know what is going on inside that head of yours."

Brennan scoffed, "My thoughts are my thoughts, Booth. Just because they are about you doesn't mean you have ownership of them in any way. If I feel like there is something you need to know then that is my choice. I know that you think things about me that you would never tell me, but because I'm the more so emotionally scarred of the two of us you make it seem like I need to spill every thought and feeling all over you just so you know how to fix me. You can't fix me Booth. No one can. I just have to deal with things the way I know how."

"I'm trying to be a good friend, Bones and you just won't let me do that." He said shaking his head.

Brennan turned away from him and huffed, "I don't know why I thought having dinner with you today would be a good idea. I should have known better." She said under her breath.

Booth turned her back towards him, "Why?" he asked, now fully angered, "Why is having dinner such a horrible idea, Temperance? I feel like I'm in a debate but don't know the topic I'm discussing. Clue me in so I at least have a level playing field with you."

Brennan's emotions were matching his on every level. She was so angry by his pushing buttons that she was about to loose it and she wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing, but it sure felt like the right thing to do, "I have been trying to get away from you ALL DAY, Booth. Everywhere I went today there was some reminder or someone talking about how good of a guy you are. I attacked a waitress for asking me where I wanted to sit in a diner! You are everywhere. Even my computer is telling me that you are so ingrained into my life that it's too late to turn back.

Even this morning. I broke up with my boyfriend because he found items in every room of my apartment that either are yours or are gifts from you. It's like we're dating but we don't have sex. Every time I date someone they always break up with me for one reason or another that usually has something to do with you. I think that I might be going crazy!" she exclaimed. She was out of breath now and Booth was looking at her as though she were amusing which only made her angrier.

That is, until he put his hands on her shoulders. She started to calm down, now feeling slightly embarrassed for her sudden outburst.

Booth cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes, "In my kitchen," he said, a smile coming to his face, "there is an apron from the barbeque I had at my house. In my living room is a stack of books that you have left there since I've known you. In my bathroom you have a hairbrush and a toothbrush next to the sink and I have a collection of hair ties in my bedroom from when you stayed at my house after you were injured. I also have your alumni sweatshirt in my dresser and Parker's room has the set of encyclopedias you bought him for his birthday last year. That is all just things you left there; not including gifts from over the years and photos of you and I that are sporadically placed throughout the house. You are just as ingrained in my life as I supposedly am in yours. You are not going crazy Temperance.

And for the record, Tessa broke up with me because she thought I was more interested in you. Cam admitted that she knew that I was more in love with you than I would ever be with her and every date I have been on in the past year has no distracted me from thinking of you." He smiled at her, knowing that she now understood what he was trying to say.

"You're in love with me?" she asked shyly.

Booth nodded, "Why do you think I hate every guy you date?" he chuckled.

She laughed as well, "That explains a lot." She said.

He smiled and brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear, "You want to have sex with me?" he laughed, wiggling his eyebrows.

Brennan scoffed, "That is not what I meant and you know it." She blushed.

Booth smiled widely, "Admit it, you think I'm sexy."

Brennan put her hands on her hips, "Yeah, you obviously think you're sexy too."

"Damn straight." He said, pulling her into him and finally kissing her. Brennan put her arms around his neck and he lifted her off the ground slightly. When they broke apart Booth put her down on the floor again.

"Okay," Brennan said, "I'm starving now." She said, walking back out to the table and starting to eat again.

Booth followed her out and sat across from her, "Yeah, you should eat up because we have a long night ahead of us." He laughed.

"You mean a long twenty minutes?" she joked.

Booth threw his napkin at her, "If you're expecting only twenty minutes then I will exceed those expectations by hours. You're going to be impressed, little lady. I'm a stallion."

Brennan laughed and threw his napkin back at him.


End file.
